Te Souvient Il?
by chuya
Summary: Another 'version' of 'Tu m'aimes' Is Draco all that evil? Ginny seems to think so. Until now. Will the arrival of Draco's French cousin change things? D&G eventually ...


Chap 1.   
  
Te souvient-il... 

  
Silky moon coloured strands flying in the wind, revealing pale face, pointed chin, delicate mouth, shell pink lips pulled into a mischievous smirk, and slightly higher, behind long blond lashes, large, almond-shaped eyes, of an undefinable colour, that one could perhaps compare to that of rain, as it falls from an october sky. Stunning, yet nonchalant and distant orbs of grey...   
Just like his.  
  
There was no denying she was a Malfoy. The cold eyes, the composure, the ability to smile and yet appear emotionless. Untroubled, but at the same time aloof...   
  
_"And yet"_,   
he mused, _"Though physically she qualifies, she is far from being your typical Malfoy,"  
  
  
_Discordia Eris Malfoy, daughter of Didius Malfoy, rich British wizard of pure decent, and Ophélie de la Mole, youngest daughter of one of the richest muggle families of France. Discordia, the closest thing to a friend Draco had ever had. Dia, his cousin. As he had, she had been born and bred Slytherin.   
"_Well, that is, if there's such a thing as 'Slytherin' in France..."  
  
_  
_"And yet..."_   
She was different. Perhaps it was the fact that she was a half-blood, that she was neither fully Malfoy or muggle. Or maybe she was both, he did not know. What he did know, though, was that everytime he saw that superior look in his Father's eyes when he addressed her, or whenever he saw his Mother sneer in her presence, he felt ashamed of them, and wished he could wipe those nasty smirks of their "perfect" faces. Dia's mother was muggle-born, so what? Wasn't she still a Malfoy? Still a human being for Merlin's sake? How could his parents not understand, not see that she was one of them? Not some filthy mudblood, like Granger?  
  
He had been brought up to despise and, in a way, fear muggles. They were... Different. Odd. Strange. Weak. And if they didn't except wizards, he didn't see why wizards should except them. He had been told of the witch hunts, the cruelty and stupidity of muggles, and, though no real witch had ever been killed during those trials, the whole thing still disgusted him. The muggles had thought they were really burning witches. That they were really inflicting inhumane deaths to innocent people. And they were glad. Happy to be the cause of such pain, as long as there was someone else to blame... Yes, he truly despised muggles. Maybe not to the point of joining the Death Eaters, and ridding the world of them, as was the Dark Lo-"_Voldermort." _'s plan. Because, Draco, believed, both parties were just as pathetic, finding scapegoats to blame for every wrong in the world. If Voldermort couldn't cope with the fact that he was part muggle, so be it. If he wished to somehow venge himself of his father by ridding the world of the muggle kind, so be it. It was his problem. Not Draco's. Nor his Father's but, well, that was another matter. The fact was that he would rather have his head bitten off by a troll than join them and have to serve the so-called 'Dark Lord'. Nevertheless, he didn't understand muggles, he didn't like them in the least.   
  
Again, he studied the photograph held in his hand. It had been taken a few summers back. Dia had been so excited when Aunt Ophélie had bought her the camera...  
  
Memory~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
She had wanted him to take a picture so she could send it back to her Mother in France.  
**_"Aller Draco, S'te-plaît? You know how much this means to me... Please?"  
  
_**She was pouting now, her face radiating with mock indignation. She always been a good actress... Her pouting would have made many hearts melt... Not his, though.   
**  
"Nope. You won't get me to touch that muggle filth."** Draco laughed, indicating the camera she held in her hands.  
**  
**He regretted those words as soon as he said them. He felt like slapping himself. How idiotic could he be?  
  
"** ...**"  
  
For a second, the world seemed to stop. The birds, it seemed, had lost their voices, and Draco couldn't hear the murmur of the nearby river anymore. It was a pity, for he would have eagerly welcomed it's soothing music. A few seconds before, Dia had been holding his sleeve, tugging gently, pleading. Now though, she backed away, and disgusted look on her face, her eye-brows furrowed and eyes wide, disapproving.  


In a moment though her face was emotionless again, her eyes far away, looking right through him. She was in no mood to joke now.  
  
**"Fine. You should have told me you had a problem with 'muggle filth' as you like to call us. Really Draco, I'd have thought... No, wait, this doesn't surprise me in the least. I should have known you'd be just like your Fa... You know what? Nevermind, I didn't really want the photograph anyway." **she hissed, her voice low and controlled.   
  
One would never have guessed she were a mere nine years old...  
  
  
_"**Dia... Look, I apologise, alright? I am an idiot, right?"** he said, with a little effort.   
_

Rarely did a Malfoy ask for forgivenness. It was not done.  
**  
"..." **She nodded, still not satisfied.  
  
Swallowing his pride he continued,  
**"You're right, I sound just like my Father, and believe me, or don't, but I really didn't want to say those things. I'm not trying to... Justify my stupidity, it was unjustifiable and, really, I'm sorry. You're the one who's one year younger, mais c'est moi qui me comporte comme un enfant."  
  
**At first he thought he had failed, that she hadn't even listened to him and that she was going to walk back to the Manor. He failed to see the mischievous smirk tugging at her lips as she turned around anf began to walk away from him.   
  
"I apologised, what else do you want?" he called out. Had that not been enough?  
  
Just when he had thought all was lost though, she turned around, beaming.  
  
**"Tu sais quoi, Draco? You're absolutely right. What you said was unjustifiable. And I really shouldn't forgive you. " **She tried keep a straight face, but her happiness was showing through the mask of stern disapproval.   
**"But I will. Under one condition of course...  
That you make Dobby come and take a photo of the both of us ! Then I can owl it to Mother tonight, she will be so pleased !  
  
Oh, and Draco? I never want to hear you saying such 'filth' again. Agreed?"**  
**__**  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
It had been a muggle camera, and, to his dismay, the image he now held in his fingers was static. Draco had found it odd at first, and it had taken him a while to get used to the fact that his cousin would not blink, that her hair would not fly in all directions...   
What was the use of a photograph that would not move? So strange, muggles were.  
  
And yet,   
Dia was different. Discordia was a Malfoy. But she was half muggle, too. But she was different... Or was she? Could he be wrong? Had he been deceived, tricked into believing lies and not recognising the truth? No, muggles were cruel... They had to be. Look at the witch hunts...   
_"But Dia isn't. You can't say they're all evil. It's like saying all wizards are Death Eaters..."  
  
  
**"Nothing is black or white in this world, Draco. You must learn to see things in shades of grey, or you will never know the truth..."  
**_It had been his mother whom had told him this, he had been a child then.   
  
_"What a hypocrite..." _he thought, scowling.   
_"So, I must be able to 'see in shades of grey', but it's fine that she labels Dia as inferior simply because she is half muggle?"   
  
_Did he, too, have double-standards without realising it? __  
  
Draco didn't know what to think, and wasn't in the mood for such thoughts. He would figure it out some other time.   
  
He brought his slenders fingers to his face, revelling in their coldness. All this sentimental crap was getting to him. Weakening him. And he had to be strong.  
  
What had come over him? Was he sick, insane, mad?   
  
Of course those worthless mudbloods and muggle-lovers were inferiors. Just look at the Weasleys, you don't get much lower than that. Dirt poor, freckled good-for-nothings with more kids than they can afford. Nothing but bullyable material, that's what they were.  
  
  
Draco exited the plain green room, promptly forgetting any goodness he might have felt for muggles.  
  
What he didn't know, was that a pair of eyes had been watching him all along, spying on his every move.   
"All is going according to plan... The Master will be pleased." thought the darkly clad figure as he came out of the shadows.  
  
  
  
**Colloque sentimental**

Dans le vieux parc solitaire et glac  
Deux formes ont tout à l'heure passé.

Leurs yeux sont morts et leurs lèvres sont molles,  
Et l'on entend à peine leurs paroles.

Dans le vieux parc solitaire et glac  
Deux spectres ont évoqué le passé.

-Te souvient-il de notre extase ancienne?  
-Pourquoi voulez-vous donc qu'il m'en souvienne?

-Ton coeur bat-il toujours à mon seul nom?  
Toujours vois tu mon âme en rêve? -Non.

-Ah! les beaux jours de bonheur indicible  
Où nous joignions nos bouches! -C'est possible.

Qu'il était bleu, le ciel, et grand l'espoir!  
-L'espoir a fui, vaincu, vers le ciel noir.

Tels ils marchaient dans les avoines folles,  
Et la nuit seule entendit leurs paroles.  
  
**_Paul Verlaine_**  
  
  
* "Te souvient-il" - Do you remember...  
  
* "Aller Draco, S'te-plaît?" - "Come on Draco, Please?"  
  
* "...mais c'est moi qui me comporte comme un enfant." - "But I'm the one acting like a child."  
  
Please review. I actually have quite a bit of a complex plot in mind. I just have to figure out how I'm going to write it.  



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